Hello, my name is Emma Rodriguez, and since August 2024, I’ve been SanDiego350’s Volunteer Coordinator. Like many climate activists, I came to this issue from somewhere else in the social justice realm. I’ve long struggled with mental illness, and that personal struggle spurred me to action in mental health advocacy when I was in high school. But I always devoted some time to climate advocacy, because to me it has always been the existential threat.
I was born in Virginia, then moved to Irvine, and have been in San Diego since I was 8 years old. While I was not born here, I definitely consider myself a San Diegan. At home, I enjoy jigsaw puzzles, kpop, and watching my chickens and their drama. My mom, who is a Professor of Political Science at Mesa College, hails from Tampa, Florida, where the weather is not as good. My dad, a researcher at the Supercomputer center at UCSD, comes from Los Angeles via Ecuador, both places where drivers are terrifying. So I am grateful they settled here, and also always happy to take some time to brag about them!
At UCSD, my alma mater, I studied economics (a subject I am still fascinated by for its impact on all walks of life). There, I joined the Green New Deal at UC San Diego (where I now serve on the Steering Committee as alumni rep) and became entrenched in studying the impact of banks on continuing climate destruction and fighting to stop them. That’s when I started considering climate change not just as an existential threat, but as the intersectional issue of our times. In ways we don’t even fully understand- like how people with Schizophrenia have difficulty regulating internal temperature and die during heat waves more often than others.
So I really started to get involved. And because I love me some public transit (and hate driving), I joined the transportation team at a little organization you may know- SanDiego350! One thing led to another, and now I am privileged enough to be the Volunteer Coordinator here. And I do think climate activism, working for a non-profit, is a privilege, an honor, and a joy.
Which is why I love this job- because my role is to talk to volunteers and spread that joy even in difficult times. As Volunteer Coordinator, I have some overarching goals that guide the work I do.
- Make volunteers feel welcome, listened to, and like they have ownership over their impact
- Center justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, especially in my outreach and public education work. We all know that climate change will impact people of color and economically disadvantaged people first and in the most unrecoverable ways. It is critical that when we talk about climate change, we really talk about climate justice.
- Do a lot of outreach and public education, especially to frontline communities whose voices need to be heard.
- Build out SanDiego350’s data and volunteer tracking infrastructure (because everyone loves a good data visualization!)
- Approach this work and all of you with kindness and optimism.
I hope to meet all of you over my tenure here. I am so proud to be your Volunteer Coordinator!